"As Ms. Davidson puts it: “Pundits may be asking if the Internet is bad for our children’s mental development, but the better question is whether the form of learning and knowledge-making we are instilling in our children is useful to their future.”

"In her galvanic new book, “Now You See It,” Ms. Davidson asks, and ingeniously answers, that question. One of the nation’s great digital minds, she has written an immensely enjoyable omni-manifesto that’s officially about the brain science of attention. But the book also challenges nearly every assumption about American education.

"Don’t worry: She doesn’t conclude that students should study Photoshop instead of geometry, or Linux instead of Pax Romana. What she recommends, in fact, looks much more like a classical education than it does the industrial-era holdover system that still informs our unrenovated classrooms.

"Simply put, we can’t keep preparing students for a world that doesn’t exist. We can’t keep ignoring the formidable cognitive skills they’re developing on their own. And above all, we must stop disparaging digital prowess just because some of us over 40 don’t happen to possess it. An institutional grudge match with the young can sabotage an entire culture."

In 1999, a file-sharing program created in a Boston dorm room sent shockwaves across the music industry and served notice that a major cultural shift was underway. Seeing a fundamental threat to its long-profitable business model, the record industry took to the courts to shut down the upstart company. But a generation of consumers had tasted a new way to get what they wanted -- today's music industry, and the musicians themselves, are still grappling with the Culture of Free.

Ken Morrison's insight:

As someone who lives abroad, Yahoo 'News' deeply disturbs me. I think that they have two very irresponsible practices:

1) They often change headlines to exact news stories to make it appear that their are new developments in the existing story. During times of escalating tensions between the two Koreas, I have seen this practice cause more panic than needed among people who want to know the story

2) very closely related, they often change the text of stories, which greatly impacts the comments left by users. There are times when you wonder if the person even read the same article that your read. Many times, in many ways, they did not. They read a previous version of the story. I think they should start fresh when they make very major edits.

With that said, I think that their content is much less nationalistic and simply more professional in the past three months. I also like this small area of quality videos

The advances in modern camera technology have created recent change like no other. When combined with social media to spread everywhere, it's amazing how visually we can all share in the experiences of one individual. This video shows the entirety of a Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike from the US/Mexico border to the US/Canada border across 2,660 mi / 4,200 km through California, Oregon, and Washington - A 5 month trip.'I created this version in response to my first video, 'The Pacific Crest Trail (Three Second Thru-Hike)', I have recut the footage into a more compact format with updated music. I...

Ken Morrison's insight:

Man documents his hiking journey with one beautiful second per day. This motivated me to go get some fresh air and exercise!

The title suggests a steward of civility and decency. But online, unpaid moderators can become a force for mayhem.

Ken Morrison's insight:

I hope that the problems at Reddit do not spill over into the political arena. Reddit really has always been a unique ecosystem. I didn't visit often but I did benefit greatly from some of the links and threads that were shared with me which originated on the site.

Most educators agree that basic application and internet skills (typing, word processing, spreadsheets, web literacy and safety, etc.) are fundamental, and thus, “digital literacy” is a part of K12 curriculum. But is coding now a fundamental literacy, like reading or writing, that all K12 students need to learn as well? In order to gain a deeper understanding of the devices and applications they use everyday, it’s important for all students to try coding. In doing so, this also has the positive effect of inspiring more potential future programmers. Furthermore, there are a set of relevant skills, often consolidated as “computational thinking”, that are becoming more important for all students, given the growth in the use of computers, algorithms and data in many fields.

A good public speaker takes their audience on a journey, leaving them feeling inspired and motivated. But structuring your speech to get your ideas across and keep your audience engaged all the way through is tricky. Try these eight storytelling techniques for a presentation that wows.

Ffion Lindsay at Sparkol does another terrific job putting together 8 story structures any business can use, then gives us examples for each. Better yet, for each structure she shares with us what situations they are good for. Yay!

If you are looking to refresh your stories and just want to play with sharing your stories in different ways -- or are stuck not knowing how to tell one of your stories -- then grab this article.

If you use these other structures, you won't get stuck in the monomyth of the hero (a good thing).

Monomyth dangers

I have noticed one piece of language changing, however. That is the word "Monomyth". Mono means one or alone. Mono + myth means one myth. Joseph Campbell coined this term to refer to the Hero's story as the one all encompassing archetype for narratives. From there it morphed into also meaning a narrative common to all people. But it has a stranglehold on our storytelling, as if there are no other kinds of stories to tell.

Now the word is being used without question. Make sure you listen to the video in this article by Chimamanda Adichie on The Danger Of A Single Story.

The monomyth of the hero's journey is eclipsing other kinds of stories to tell. In the mad rush for business storytelling, the hero's journey is often touted as the only story to pay attention to. Stories of community, origin stories, how we do things, cautionary tales, and the like are neglected, but we are starving for them.

This is one of the best articles on business stories I've read in a long time. The author not only explains different story structures, she indicates when to use them and includes video examples for each structure. Enjoy!

Key Takeaways: Understand the problem you are trying to solve and understand and elevate the voice of those affected by the problem, whether they are students, teachers or community. Understand the system that creates the problem you are trying to solve. Use the power of social learning for adults and professionals. Practitioners rarely want to …

Reddit said Friday that interim CEO Ellen Pao resigned from the company, and co-founder Steve Huffman is back as its CEO. The freewheeling online discussion forum and news site, which says it had 164 million ...

The agency collected and stored intimate chats, photos, and emails belonging to innocent Americans—and secured them so poorly that reporters can now browse them at will.

Ken Morrison's insight:

It creeps me out that Snowden shared very private selfies with huge newspapers. It creeps me out much more that he got these photos easily by putting his thumb drive in a government computer that was stockpiling them.

This collection of targeted video segments, audio files, lesson plans, and guides is designed to give you the tools you need to drive innovative thinking among middle and high school students. Resources explore the critical and creative skills that engineers, inventors, musicians, farmers, and scientists rely on to develop the innovative products and processes that underpin our everyday lives.

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